Left to right: Seema Sheth, Sophie Meng, Emma Wilson, Kaleb Goff, and Mataeus Funderburk
Current lab members
Seema Sheth
Assistant Professor
Seema became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant & Microbial Biology at North Carolina State University in January 2018. Previously, Seema did postdoctoral research at UC Berkeley and the University of Minnesota, and completed her Ph.D. at Colorado State University.
Seema is also the Science Director of GLORIA Great Basin, a non-profit organization that is part of the the international GLORIA effort to study the effects of climate change on alpine plants.
E-mail: [email protected]
CV
Assistant Professor
Seema became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant & Microbial Biology at North Carolina State University in January 2018. Previously, Seema did postdoctoral research at UC Berkeley and the University of Minnesota, and completed her Ph.D. at Colorado State University.
Seema is also the Science Director of GLORIA Great Basin, a non-profit organization that is part of the the international GLORIA effort to study the effects of climate change on alpine plants.
E-mail: [email protected]
CV
Lucas Albano
Postdoctoral Associate (beginning in April 2024)
Lucas completed his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto in 2024. He is interested in all things plants, and has conducted undergraduate research in agriculture (plant-microbe interactions), M.Sc. research in plant ecology (responses to permafrost thaw), and Ph.D. research in plant evolutionary ecology (plant-herbivore interactions and responses to climate warming and species introduction). Lucas is building upon his passion for understanding plants by studying adaptation and evolutionary rescue in response to ongoing environmental change using a resurrection study with Mimulus cardinalis.
Postdoctoral Associate (beginning in April 2024)
Lucas completed his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto in 2024. He is interested in all things plants, and has conducted undergraduate research in agriculture (plant-microbe interactions), M.Sc. research in plant ecology (responses to permafrost thaw), and Ph.D. research in plant evolutionary ecology (plant-herbivore interactions and responses to climate warming and species introduction). Lucas is building upon his passion for understanding plants by studying adaptation and evolutionary rescue in response to ongoing environmental change using a resurrection study with Mimulus cardinalis.
Lillie Pennington
NSF Postdoctoral Fellow (2023 - present)
Lillie is an NSF postdoc fellow at the University of Georgia with Jill Anderson as her primary advisor and Seema and Liana Burghardt (Penn State) as co-advisors. She is interested in how adaptive responses vary across a species range. Chamaecrista fasciculata, the partridge pea, is the focus of Lillie's post-doctoral research. She is conducting a range-wide survey of the nitrogen-fixing bacteria that colonize the nodules the plant forms on its roots. Lillie is also investigating the extent of local adaptation to local bacterial communities, as well as the impact of climate change on this symbiosis. Lillie earned her degree in the Sexton Lab at UC Merced studying drought effects on natural populations across the range of the cutleaf monkeyflower, Erythranthe laciniata.
Lillie's website
NSF Postdoctoral Fellow (2023 - present)
Lillie is an NSF postdoc fellow at the University of Georgia with Jill Anderson as her primary advisor and Seema and Liana Burghardt (Penn State) as co-advisors. She is interested in how adaptive responses vary across a species range. Chamaecrista fasciculata, the partridge pea, is the focus of Lillie's post-doctoral research. She is conducting a range-wide survey of the nitrogen-fixing bacteria that colonize the nodules the plant forms on its roots. Lillie is also investigating the extent of local adaptation to local bacterial communities, as well as the impact of climate change on this symbiosis. Lillie earned her degree in the Sexton Lab at UC Merced studying drought effects on natural populations across the range of the cutleaf monkeyflower, Erythranthe laciniata.
Lillie's website
Kaleb Goff
Ph.D. Student (2021 - present)
Kaleb completed his B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. During his undergrad, Kaleb investigated ecogeographic speciation in sister species of the genus Clarkia. During several seasons working as a Park Ranger-Naturalist in Yosemite National Park, he developed a keen interest in the ecology, evolution and conservation of high elevation plants. Kaleb is currently collaborating with GLORIA Great Basin and conducting his own experiments to better understand the current and future impacts of the anthropogenic climate crisis on alpine plant communities in California and Nevada.
E-mail: [email protected]
Ph.D. Student (2021 - present)
Kaleb completed his B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. During his undergrad, Kaleb investigated ecogeographic speciation in sister species of the genus Clarkia. During several seasons working as a Park Ranger-Naturalist in Yosemite National Park, he developed a keen interest in the ecology, evolution and conservation of high elevation plants. Kaleb is currently collaborating with GLORIA Great Basin and conducting his own experiments to better understand the current and future impacts of the anthropogenic climate crisis on alpine plant communities in California and Nevada.
E-mail: [email protected]
Sulma Correa
Undergraduate Researcher (2024 - present)
Sulma is a third-year Plant Biology student pursuing the field botany certificate and a minor in Anthropology. She loves everything to do with plants and birds. After graduation, she hopes to continue to study ecology and plant biology. In her free time, she can usually be found taking care of her garden, house plants, crocheting or playing with her green-cheeked conure!
Undergraduate Researcher (2024 - present)
Sulma is a third-year Plant Biology student pursuing the field botany certificate and a minor in Anthropology. She loves everything to do with plants and birds. After graduation, she hopes to continue to study ecology and plant biology. In her free time, she can usually be found taking care of her garden, house plants, crocheting or playing with her green-cheeked conure!
Mataeus Funderburk
Undergraduate Researcher (2022 - present)
Mataeus was born and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina and is a first-year student in the Life Sciences program with Zoology intent. Mataeus loves all things life, especially animals, but plants hold a special place in his heart and we are hoping we can continue to cultivate that affection in our lab! Mataeus likes growing culinary mushrooms (such as oyster and shiitake) and also does a little microscopy on the side!
Undergraduate Researcher (2022 - present)
Mataeus was born and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina and is a first-year student in the Life Sciences program with Zoology intent. Mataeus loves all things life, especially animals, but plants hold a special place in his heart and we are hoping we can continue to cultivate that affection in our lab! Mataeus likes growing culinary mushrooms (such as oyster and shiitake) and also does a little microscopy on the side!
Catherine Laufenberg
Undergraduate Researcher (2023 - present)
Catherine is a third-year Plant Biology major with a minor in Spanish from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She is curious about plant responses to climate change and rare plant conservation. After graduation, she is interested in exploring these topics further in graduate school. In her free time, Catherine enjoys running, reading, and playing piano.
Undergraduate Researcher (2023 - present)
Catherine is a third-year Plant Biology major with a minor in Spanish from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She is curious about plant responses to climate change and rare plant conservation. After graduation, she is interested in exploring these topics further in graduate school. In her free time, Catherine enjoys running, reading, and playing piano.
Cristina Payst
Undergraduate Researcher (2023 - present)
Cristina is a first-year Biology student with a concentration in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology. She loves everything to do with plants and animals and hopes to pursue a career in conservation. In her free time, she can usually be found taking care of her plants, knitting, or crocheting!
Undergraduate Researcher (2023 - present)
Cristina is a first-year Biology student with a concentration in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology. She loves everything to do with plants and animals and hopes to pursue a career in conservation. In her free time, she can usually be found taking care of her plants, knitting, or crocheting!
Robin Bingham
Visiting Scholar (2024)
Robin is an evolutionary ecologist interested in the areas of plant-animal interactions, the evolution of plant defense, and the role of phenotypic plasticity in adaptive evolution. Her recent preoccupation is with the potential for plants to adapt rapidly to climate change and in understanding the evolutionary mechanisms behind that process. Robin is on sabbatical from Western Colorado University where she is a Professor of Biology. At Western her focus is teaching plant biology and mentoring undergraduate students in research. In her free time, she enjoys human powered aerobic activities appropriate to the season or you can find her at the barn for equine companionship. She recently began learning to play the fiddle and dusted off her knitting needles.
Visiting Scholar (2024)
Robin is an evolutionary ecologist interested in the areas of plant-animal interactions, the evolution of plant defense, and the role of phenotypic plasticity in adaptive evolution. Her recent preoccupation is with the potential for plants to adapt rapidly to climate change and in understanding the evolutionary mechanisms behind that process. Robin is on sabbatical from Western Colorado University where she is a Professor of Biology. At Western her focus is teaching plant biology and mentoring undergraduate students in research. In her free time, she enjoys human powered aerobic activities appropriate to the season or you can find her at the barn for equine companionship. She recently began learning to play the fiddle and dusted off her knitting needles.
Former lab members
MC Moazed
Field Technician (2023)
MC works on the PERSIST project, studying scarlet monkeyflower adaptive evolution using common gardens. She received her degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2020. As an undergrad, MC fed an interest in plant ecology by working as a crew leader for forestry projects on the Campus Natural Reserve, and as a field assistant for the Gilbert-Parker Applied Evolutionary Ecology & Phylogenetic Disease Ecology lab. Since then, she has had the privilege of exploring the diverse flora of California and Arizona through her work as a field technician conducting vegetation and soil surveys in the Sonoran Desert and as a teaching assistant for field-based undergraduate ecology and conservation courses. Following her time with the Sheth lab, MC hopes to continue to connect with–and support life in–incredible places, systems, and species through the world of field botany and applied ecology. When she's not planting thousands of Mimulus cardinalis seeds, MC enjoys reading, biking, and mending.
Field Technician (2023)
MC works on the PERSIST project, studying scarlet monkeyflower adaptive evolution using common gardens. She received her degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2020. As an undergrad, MC fed an interest in plant ecology by working as a crew leader for forestry projects on the Campus Natural Reserve, and as a field assistant for the Gilbert-Parker Applied Evolutionary Ecology & Phylogenetic Disease Ecology lab. Since then, she has had the privilege of exploring the diverse flora of California and Arizona through her work as a field technician conducting vegetation and soil surveys in the Sonoran Desert and as a teaching assistant for field-based undergraduate ecology and conservation courses. Following her time with the Sheth lab, MC hopes to continue to connect with–and support life in–incredible places, systems, and species through the world of field botany and applied ecology. When she's not planting thousands of Mimulus cardinalis seeds, MC enjoys reading, biking, and mending.
Lindsay Villano
Field Technician (2023)
Lindsay received a B.S. in Environmental Science at the University of Oregon in 2023. During undergrad, she pursued interests in the plant sciences by working in a community ecology lab, and especially enjoyed getting to work on plant-soil feedback projects and PERSIST. Since then, she continued working on the PERSIST project and had the pleasure of collecting data at each garden. In the future, she hopes to cultivate her interests in ecology and conservation by doing more exciting lab and field jobs like these!
Field Technician (2023)
Lindsay received a B.S. in Environmental Science at the University of Oregon in 2023. During undergrad, she pursued interests in the plant sciences by working in a community ecology lab, and especially enjoyed getting to work on plant-soil feedback projects and PERSIST. Since then, she continued working on the PERSIST project and had the pleasure of collecting data at each garden. In the future, she hopes to cultivate her interests in ecology and conservation by doing more exciting lab and field jobs like these!
James (Nathan) Ross
Field Technician (2023)
Nathan completed his B.S. in Biology with a minor in Chemistry at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. During his undergrad, he worked with Venus Flytraps and Californian
Copepods, and assisted at the UNC Herbarium. He has recently worked in West Africa (Benin)
on the Khaya and weaver ant system with the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
He is currently working on the NSF-funded Chamaecrista project. He enjoys backpacking,
learning about different cultures through cuisine and literature, and skateboarding. He is
interested in conservation and secondary metabolite synthesis.
Field Technician (2023)
Nathan completed his B.S. in Biology with a minor in Chemistry at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. During his undergrad, he worked with Venus Flytraps and Californian
Copepods, and assisted at the UNC Herbarium. He has recently worked in West Africa (Benin)
on the Khaya and weaver ant system with the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
He is currently working on the NSF-funded Chamaecrista project. He enjoys backpacking,
learning about different cultures through cuisine and literature, and skateboarding. He is
interested in conservation and secondary metabolite synthesis.
Sylvie Amstutz
Field Technician (2023)
Sylvie joined Kaleb in the White Mountains in the summer of 2023 to assist with alpine plant functional traits sampling across an elevation gradient. Sylvie is currently the Point Blue Conservation Science STRAW Program Restoration Technician in San Jose, CA. Sylive graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2023 in Environmental Studies.
Field Technician (2023)
Sylvie joined Kaleb in the White Mountains in the summer of 2023 to assist with alpine plant functional traits sampling across an elevation gradient. Sylvie is currently the Point Blue Conservation Science STRAW Program Restoration Technician in San Jose, CA. Sylive graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2023 in Environmental Studies.
Sophie Meng
Undergraduate Researcher (2022 - 2023)
Current position: Plant Conservation Technician
North Carolina Botanical Garden
Undergraduate Researcher (2022 - 2023)
Current position: Plant Conservation Technician
North Carolina Botanical Garden
Emma Wilson
Undergraduate Researcher (2021 - 2022)
Emma is currently pursuing a double-major in Wildlife Science and Plant Biology. She is also a member of the Sustainability Stewards and Social Innovation Fellows at NC State. Emma is particularly interested in plant-animal interactions, fire ecology, and community-level dynamics. Following her undergraduate career, Emma plans to continue studying these systems in graduate school, and she hopes to achieve a career that allows her to focus on plant and wildlife conservation.
Undergraduate Researcher (2021 - 2022)
Emma is currently pursuing a double-major in Wildlife Science and Plant Biology. She is also a member of the Sustainability Stewards and Social Innovation Fellows at NC State. Emma is particularly interested in plant-animal interactions, fire ecology, and community-level dynamics. Following her undergraduate career, Emma plans to continue studying these systems in graduate school, and she hopes to achieve a career that allows her to focus on plant and wildlife conservation.
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Malia Reiss
Field Technician (2022)
Malia joined Kaleb and Seema as a field assistant studying alpine plant functional traits. Malia is currently a third year undergrad at University of California, Davis with a major in Environmental Science and Management, and minors in both Landscape Restoration and Professional Writing. Her academic interests include botany, mycology, and restoration ecology. Malia is currently a member of the Gremer Lab at Davis, studying seed dispersal and persistence under Dr. Marina LaForgia. She also enjoys playing ultimate frisbee for her school team, being a campus tour guide, and backpacking across California.
Field Technician (2022)
Malia joined Kaleb and Seema as a field assistant studying alpine plant functional traits. Malia is currently a third year undergrad at University of California, Davis with a major in Environmental Science and Management, and minors in both Landscape Restoration and Professional Writing. Her academic interests include botany, mycology, and restoration ecology. Malia is currently a member of the Gremer Lab at Davis, studying seed dispersal and persistence under Dr. Marina LaForgia. She also enjoys playing ultimate frisbee for her school team, being a campus tour guide, and backpacking across California.
Magdalene Lo
Field Technician (2021)
Current position: M.S. student
Grossenbacher Lab, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Field Technician (2021)
Current position: M.S. student
Grossenbacher Lab, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Emma Vtipilthorpe
Ph.D. Student (2020 - 2021)
M.R. (non-thesis master's) student (2019-2020)
Undergraduate researcher (2018-2019)
Current position: Research Associate
Invaio
Ph.D. Student (2020 - 2021)
M.R. (non-thesis master's) student (2019-2020)
Undergraduate researcher (2018-2019)
Current position: Research Associate
Invaio
Emily Powell
Undergraduate Researcher (2021)
Current position: Ph.D. student
Soybean Breeding and Genetics Laboratory, University of Georgia
Undergraduate Researcher (2021)
Current position: Ph.D. student
Soybean Breeding and Genetics Laboratory, University of Georgia
Aeran Coughlin
Lab Manager (2019 - 2021)
Current position: Ph.D. student
Wright Lab, Duke University
Lab Manager (2019 - 2021)
Current position: Ph.D. student
Wright Lab, Duke University
Devin Adas
Undergraduate Researcher (2021)
Undergraduate Researcher (2021)
Daisy Ryan
Undergraduate Researcher (2020 - 2021)
Current position: GIS Technician
Bolton and Menk, Inc.
Undergraduate Researcher (2020 - 2021)
Current position: GIS Technician
Bolton and Menk, Inc.
Mia Wiegmann
Undergraduate Researcher (2018 - 2021)
Current position: Medical student
University of North Carolina's School of Medicine
Undergraduate Researcher (2018 - 2021)
Current position: Medical student
University of North Carolina's School of Medicine
Aleah Querns
M.S. Student (2018-2020)
Current position: Ph.D. student
Louthan Lab, Kansas State University
M.S. Student (2018-2020)
Current position: Ph.D. student
Louthan Lab, Kansas State University
Rachel Wooliver
Postdoctoral Associate (2018-2020)
Current position: Postdoctoral Research Associate
Jagadamma Lab, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Rachel's website
Postdoctoral Associate (2018-2020)
Current position: Postdoctoral Research Associate
Jagadamma Lab, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Rachel's website
Mariah Kidd
Undergraduate Researcher (2019-2020)
Undergraduate Researcher (2019-2020)
Brooke Caldwell
Research Technician/Undergraduate Researcher (2019-2020)
Research Technician/Undergraduate Researcher (2019-2020)
Natalie Gold
Undergraduate Researcher (2019)
Current position: M.S. student
Dept. of Crop and Soil Sciences, NC State
Undergraduate Researcher (2019)
Current position: M.S. student
Dept. of Crop and Soil Sciences, NC State
Jessie Torres
Undergraduate Researcher (2018-2019)
Current position: Bachelor's student in nursing, University of North Carolina
Undergraduate Researcher (2018-2019)
Current position: Bachelor's student in nursing, University of North Carolina
Collin Yurish
Undergraduate Researcher (2018)
Undergraduate Researcher (2018)
Irena Brglez
Lab Manager (2018)
Lab Manager (2018)
*** if you are a former Sheth lab member and have updates to share, please get in touch with Seema. We love hearing from you!!! ***